Christmas lighting in the streets, fantastic shop windows, cosy moments spent in cafés and restaurants – Christmas time in Holland is truly wonderful. If you want to go for a trip around Christmas and have some Christmas shopping to do, you could do worse than spending the weekend shopping in one of Holland's welcoming cities.

Christmas markets

Amsterdam is the obvious choice, of course, but Leiden, Maastricht and The Hague also join in the Christmas fun. Many cities have brightly lit ice-skating rinks with koek en zopie (wintry snacks and drinks typically enjoyed during ice-skating in Holland). Most cities also have big Christmas markets. Well-known markets are held in Dordrecht (Dordrecht Christmas market) and Maastricht (Maastricht Christmas market), with hundreds of stalls overflowing with great gifts, living nativity scenes and craftsmen showing off the old crafts. The ultimate Christmas atmosphere can be experienced during the Dickens Festival in Deventer, which takes the city back to the nineteenth century and Charles Dickens’s world.

Indoor shopping

And there is plenty of shopping to do if the weather gets too cold for you. You could visit our beautiful department store such as De Bijenkorf, that sells luxurious and popular brands. There are also many indoor shopping malls.

Our recommendations for more Holland information

Winter in Holland is magical and we like to make things extra warm and cosy during the dark days of the year. Therefore we selected the best best tips for you; from New Year’s Eve in Amsterdam, the best ice-skating rinks, christmas shopping and many more.